Pete Rose, a Reds legend, has died. The Cincinnati native who became Major League Baseball’s hit king was 83. Following graduation from Western Hills High School in 1960, the alum signed a professional deal with the Reds. When he arrived in the major leagues, Rose made an immediate impression on Cincinnati, batting 273 and winning National League Rookie of the Year. Rose was a vital member of the Big Red Machine and “The Great Eight,” winning the National League MVP and World Series MVP awards while guiding Cincinnati to two World Series championships.
Rose then joined the Philadelphia Phillies in 1979. When signing, he was the highest-paid athlete in team sports. One year later, he claimed his third World Series championship. He was with the Phillies until the 1984 season when he was released and signed a one-year contract with the Montreal Expos. In August 1984, he was sent back to Cincinnati. When Rose returned to Cincinnati, he immediately became a player-manager. In 1985, while in his second stint with the Reds, Rose became the all-time hit leader, beating Ty Cobb’s mark. He finished his career with 4,256 hits, 3,215 singles, and 3,562 games played.
Rose was also a 17-time All-Star and a two-time Gold Glove Award winner. His No. 14 jersey has been retired in Cincinnati, and he is a Reds Hall of Fame member. “The news of Pete’s passing deeply saddens our hearts,” Reds owner Bob Castellini said in a statement. “He was one of the most intense competitors the game has ever seen, and every team he played for benefited from his presence. Pete was a Red through and through. No one loved the game more than Pete, and no one loved him more than Reds Country. We must never forget what he has accomplished.
After retiring as a player in 1986, Rose remained with the Reds as manager. He was sacked in 1989, the same year Rose was banned from baseball following allegations that he gambled on baseball games while playing for and managing the Reds. Rose later confessed in his autobiography that he wagered on baseball games, including Cincinnati’s, while with the Reds. He maintains he has never wagered against the team.
His ban rendered him permanently ineligible for the Hall of Fame. He asked for reinstatement multiple times, but his pleas were turned down. Rose faced numerous legal troubles following his ban. In 1990, he was sentenced to five months in a minimum-security prison camp after pleading guilty to two counts of submitting false income tax forms that did not include the money he earned from selling autographs or memorabilia or winnings from horse racing. Rose was also accused of statutory rape after attorney John Dowd, the special counsel who oversaw the inquiry, said in a 2015 radio appearance that Rose had a sexual encounter with a juvenile in the 1970s. He initiated a defamation action against Dowd, which was dismissed in 2017 after all sides had agreed. Despite the controversy surrounding his gambling habits, Rose went to Cincinnati on January 1, 2022, the day sports betting became legal in Ohio, to place the first bet at Cincinnati’s Hard Rock Sportsbook.
